Tail Bags... Should I bag his tail?

I want to... I really do.

I'm entertaining the thought of begging my geldings tail this winter to try and get it to grow longer and thicker... but I'm still debating over it. My boy is turned out 24/7 in a 15 acre pasture (though this winter we'll probably open the gate so our two pastures merge into the normal 50 acres). His tail is already long and thick... it comes within an inch or so of touching the ground when it's brushed out and his tail is actually really thick... almost as thick as my mares tail (my mare has enough tail for two horses, it's so thick, but short).

Anyway, considering the fact that he's outside 24/7... would it be a good idea to bag it? I put it up in a pasture braid earlier (along with my mares tail) and I put pasture braids in his mane before letting him go...

Do you show him?
If not, I wouldn't bother. Better to be safe than sorry. Tail bags can get caught up and cause massive injury if you're not carefull. I don't bag my horse's tails unless they're in a stable/yard and when they go out into the paddock I just plait down from the dock. Occassionally I use one of those tail bags that have 3 'tubes' so you seperate the hair from the bottom of the dock into three pieces, put each piece into a seperate 'tube' and plait it down.

No, he's just a trail horse.

So, tail bags can get caught up in things easily? I didn't know that...

Would it be ok to braid it in a loose pasture braid from the dock down and keep it braided for a week at a time, taking it out on Saturdays to finger brush? I'm a sucker for long, thick tails... Lol.

Yeah they can get hooked up on trees and things/ Alot of tail bags you also need to rug so you can attach the bag to the end of the rug to keep it up. If the horse decides to scratch its bum on a tree and the bag gets hooked on something it can seriously damage the horse's dock, which is the end of his spine so not a good thing to do!!
Braiding it for a week at a time owuld be fine ;) Get some cheap leave in condition, and spray it through his tail before you braid it each time too, helps keeps the knots away and makes it lovely and soft ;)

My grandma and I are going to town Wednesday... i'm planning on buying some sort of leave in conditioner.

Do you know of any cheap leave in conditioner that I can buy for not much money? I don't have a lot of money to spare at the moment.

Sorry I'm in Aus so doubt the cheap one's would be the same. Doesn't really matter what brand though, just buy the cheapest one you can find and it'll still work well enough.

Ah, I didn't realize that you were across the globe from me, lol...

Alright then! Thanks a lot for the help and info.

Use MTG (mane tail groom). I use a tail bag w/ MTG, but my girl's tail has a long way to go. I'm also making mane bags for the same purpouse. If I were you, though, I wouldn't go any longer than that on the tail (that's just me, though) and I would focus more on growing out the mane.

Try coconut oil. I've heard wonderful things about it. I bought some, but I have to wait for my horse to come back from the trainers to try it.

Good Luck

I've used MTG in the past and loved it... but since I ran out a few months ago I haven't been able to get any more (haven't had time). I've never used cocanut oil, though.